


So, Daddy Huh?

by giantjellyfish



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abuse of italics, Alternate Universe - Daycare, Bc It's 2017, Bisexual Lance, Boys With Nail Polish, Coming Out, Edgy Broganes, Eventual relationship, F/M, Gender-neutral pronouns for Pidge, Genderfluid Keith, HELL YEA, Hahah uhh??, I'm Sorry, Keith's kid is Allura, Lots Of Smol Kiddos, M/M, Mutual Pining, Past Keith/Nyma, Piercings, Single Father Keith, Slow Burn, Tattoo Junkie Shiro, Tattoos, awkward moments, barista keith, i love them, oh fuCK!!!, so many
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-23 13:27:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9659399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giantjellyfish/pseuds/giantjellyfish
Summary: Three years later, it still always hit him just as hard as it had hit on day one. Huh. Look at that. Keith was a fucking parent.





	1. Chapter One

   Taking a deep breath, the raven haired man stared at the floor of his relatively small apartment, now home to three human beings. One of which being his daughter, who he had with a _woman_ , when he was **_gay_**. Keith was gay. Gay as all hell. Yet, he was the only one who knew that, though only for about 5 minutes longer. Said man stepped into his living room, giving a completely bogus grin at Nyma, before letting a much smaller but completely genuine smile grace his features upon seeing the baby in her lap. Allura was beautiful, much like Nyma, but Keith found Nyma beautiful in too much of way that wasn’t romantic; he could appreciate her, but not be in a relationship with her. It would’ve helped to figure out and explore his sexuality a year before making such a massive commitment, but the world never works in favour of Keith’s decisions anyway. Nyma never looked up from Allura, but she hummed to acknowledge her boyfriend’s presence.

“Hey, babe.” She said as she ran her fingers through the small amount of hair on the baby girl’s head; her hair was white, but Nyma’s was blonde and Keith’s was black. Strange. Being addressed as “babe” made Keith grimace and caused his heart rate to speed up more from its already elevated speed; he was glad she wasn’t focused on him. He swallowed, approaching the both of them, sitting on the couch on the left side of Nyma. Closest to the window, in case he wanted to jump out- ahem. In case he needed the fresh air to regulate his breathing. He was coming out as a homosexual to his girlfriend who presumed he was straight, after all.

“Uh… About that whole ‘babe’ thing…” Keith started, averting his gaze from Nyma and instead focusing on Allura. It was then a panicked thought ran through his mind: _What if he could never see Allura again_? The trailed off statement gathered enough of Nyma’s attention for her to actually look at Keith, raising a filled in eyebrow.

“Yeah?” She asked in an inquisitive tone, bouncing her daughter carefully on her knees. Keith’s lips were suddenly dry as he licked over them, straightening up his posture. Just say it, Keith.

“Uhm, Nyma… I think…” His voice cracked, and he took a deep breath, feeling the air reach the very bottom of his lungs.

 “I’m gay.” The room was deafeningly silent as Nyma stood up without a word, placing Allura in her bassinet, and walked back over with her hands on her hips. Standing in front of Keith the way she was, she was pretty intimidating. Keith’s breath hitched. She spoke up, her voice low.

“That’s not funny, Keith.” Keith wished he could exclaim ‘April Fools!’ and keep on walking but there were two problems to that: one, it wasn’t a joke, and two, it’s March.

“Nyma, I’m not kidding. I don’t like girls. I thought I did- and, and I really did like you! But I just… don’t like you in a girlfriend way. I thought I did, I’m sorry.” Nyma’s expression was unreadable for a moment, until her palm made contact with Keith’s cheek, slapping him hard enough for his head to turn in the other direction. _Ah. So it was anger._

“Why the fuck did you date me if you’re gay?! Why did you sleep with me, why did you get me _pregnant_ if you don’t like girls?!” Keith turned his head back to his angry… Girlfriend? Ex-girlfriend? Soon to be ex-girlfriend, let’s go with that. He rubbed his cheek, his heart pounding in his ears.

“N-Nyma, I was confused, okay? I don’t regret anything, but I don’t think I can continue to date you anymore…” He looked away, making eye contact with his daughter who was curiously peeking out of her bassinet. Keith smiled at her, but Nyma harshly turned his face back towards her instead.

“Fuck you, you never cared about me at all! You used me for sex, didn’t you?” The raven tensed up and frantically shook his head. Well, as much as he could with his chin in Nyma’s grasp.

 “No, no, _oh god_ , no! Honest, Nyma, I just didn’t know…” There was a blur of blonde as Nyma stormed off into their shared bedroom, Keith quickly following after her as he scooped up Allura into his arms, only to have the door slammed in his face.

 

 

 

 

   Somehow, the process of coming out got even worse after that. In Keith’s opinion, of course. But, as he learned before, the best thing to do was to just go ahead and say it, and it made him less anxious thinking about it. So, that was what he was going to do as he stood in front of his brother’s tattoo parlour, ‘Black Lion’. What an edgy fucking name, ‘Black Lion’. Well, if you looked at Shiro, he definitely looked like he belonged in a place like this. Upon stepping into the shop, he could pick out his brother from a giant crowd; the older man had an undercut with dual-toned black and white hair, the white part being his fringe. His entire right arm was inked in a sleeve, that Keith couldn’t help but admit was cool, and his ears were adorned with a pair of matte black plugs. Edgy as fuck. Keith wasn’t much better himself, he had a tattoo covering the right side of his chest and stretching over his bicep and close to the back of his neck, along with his newest accessory: a piercing down the center of his lip. He had opened the door with his foot, due to having two cups of coffee, one in each hand. The bell above the doorframe jingled.

“Shiro! You on break yet?” Keith called out across the room, waving as best he could to the receptionist, only managing a little wiggle of his fingers from around one of the cups. She blushed and waved back, making the raven haired man nervously poke his tongue out to play with the ring through his lip. _Yikes. What was her name again? Tux… Nux… Ah. Luxia. It would help to read her nametag._

“Uhhh, yeah, why?” Shiro asked loudly over his shoulder, putting away some extra materials from his last appointment. Looking away from the flustered woman, the younger of the two siblings made his way towards the familiar voice, leaning against the wall after he had placed Shiro’s cup closest to him on the table in between them. Shiro closed the drawer and raised a pierced eyebrow at the cup that was silently offered. _Huh. That piercing was new._

“How did you know that I really needed coffee?” Shiro started, but he wasn’t complaining. Keith gave a small grin and grabbed his own, taking a quick sip.

“Dunno, brother’s intuition? Glad I did though, you look pretty tired.” Shiro let out a small chuckle and nodded, drinking for a long moment. Half the cup was most likely gone.

 “You’ve got that right, I’m exhausted. I think only have one more appointment after my break though, and then I get to go home and sleep.” He took another large gulp of coffee, and Keith quickly remembered the actual reason for showing up here out of nowhere. _Here goes nothing._

“That’s cool. Oh, by the way, I’m gay.” The eldest choked mid-swallow, putting the cup down and gaining them both some strange looks. Shiro grabbed the waste basket beside him and brought it up to his face, spitting out whatever was in his mouth. _Amusing reaction_.

“You- what? Keith, _what_?” Keith swallowed himself, except he didn’t have coffee in his mouth.

“I’m gay. I broke up with Nyma because I don’t like girls.” Shiro gave a blank stare before creasing his brows together and pinching the bridge of his nose. … _Hm, bridge_. Keith subconsciously wondered how he would look if he got a bridge piercing.

“Keith, this isn’t a joke, right?” Shiro asked, speaking barely above a whisper. Keith huffed exasperatedly, gripping his own cup a little too hard.

“Why does everyone think I’m fucking joking about this?” The smaller snapped, averting his gaze. Shiro raised his hands in surrender, looking a bit taken aback.

“Okay, okay! Language. I believe you.” He hesitantly moved around the table to be closer to Keith, worrying at his bottom lip.

“What about Allura…?” Keith relaxed with Shiro’s question and smiled weakly, his eyes flickering back up as he moved his hand to swirl the drink.

“Oh,” he said. “She’s giving me full custody. Apparently, she wants nothing to do with me or Allura, since she hates me now.” He exhaled shakily as he looked down at the lid of his coffee, but quickly brushed off any negative thoughts.

“She’s convinced I used her for sex or just to toy with her emotions.” Keith’s voice was quiet, more mumbling than speaking, and Shiro’s expression softened.

“But you aren’t like that, and if she can’t see that, then she wasn’t good for you either way.” Shiro said matter-of-factly. Keith shrugged and chuckled, looking back up at his brother as he spoke up louder, out of his existential daze.

“I don’t know why I was so terrified to come out to you, you’re only like, what, forty percent straight?” Shiro’s face heated up, crossing his arms.

“I am more than forty percent. Maybe forty-five.” Shiro cracked a small smile as he corrected Keith, making him snort.

 “Yeah, you’re about as straight as those bendable rulers.” Keith told him, and Shiro rolled his eyes, grabbing his coffee cup once again. He took a large gulp swiftly, just to make sure Keith wouldn’t be able to say anything that would cause him to choke this time around.

“I can’t believe I’m being attacked by my little brother who just came out as hecka gay for being gay!” Keith froze after Shiro finished what he was saying, parting his lips momentarily before he closed them again. He brought his hand to his mouth and rested his bare fingers against his chin, foregoing his fingerless gloves only for today.

“Okay, first things first. I’m not attacking you, that’s called being hypocritical. Secondly, did you just say _hecka_? What are you, a ten year old?” Keith questioned, to which Shiro scoffed, straightening his posture. He lightly shook his now basically empty cup, seeing how little was left. _That was fast_.

“Some people don’t appreciate that type of that language, and I just so happen to be one of them.” He responded. Keith looked Shiro up and down, analyzing how much of a juxtaposition his words were to his appearance. It had to be a joke.

“I call bull-” Shiro placed a finger on Keith’s lips before he could finish, his finger nail painted black.

“ _Language_!” He sing songed, obviously to annoy Keith. Said man licked his finger and Shiro quickly pulled his hand back, wiping it on his jeans with a grimace. The both of them acted more like children once they were together. Allura wouldn’t treat Shiro like this.

“Ew, the hell?” Shiro asked, causing Keith to perk up and speak excitedly, his eyes lighting up.

“Hah, I got you!” Keith exclaimed; Shiro realized only after it was said what had came out of his mouth.

“Dangit.” Shiro said, immediately returning to censoring himself. Keith deflated, Shiro laughing loudly at his face. 

 

 

 

 

    _Record scratch, freeze frame. “Yep, that’s me.”_ Keith now stood in front of a daycare, Nyma long gone and out of the picture. That was fine, though. She’d given him full custody of Allura like she promised, the toddler currently age three, and also trying to pick up a leaf from the ground and eat it. Keith swiftly picked up his daughter and took the leaf from her tiny, chubby fingers, smiling lightly at her.

“We don’t eat leaves. It may look like spinach, but it isn’t.” Allura nodded, and Keith exhaled and moved so that he was holding her on his hip, walking into the daycare. He flinched ever so slightly at the enthusiastic woman he was immediately greeted by, vaguely registering that her name was Florona.

“Parents sign in over there!” She gestured in the direction of the front desk with her hand, but Keith had tuned her out again. Three years later, it still always hit him just as hard as it had hit on day one. Huh. Look at that. Keith was a fucking parent.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah hahaha.... sorry?


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i fixed the formatting bless
> 
> aLSO KEITH IS GENDERFLUID IN CASE YOU DIDN'T READ THE TAGS, I FORGOT TO TAG IT WHEN I UPLOADED THE FIRST CHAPTER  
> IT DEPENDS ON HOW THEY FEEL WHAT PRONOUN THEY USE 
> 
> GOMENNASAI I'M FORGETFUL

Keith placed Allura down on the ground beside him, the toddler immediately reaching for his right hand and gripping it tightly. She looked around, obviously nervous. Keith let out a loud exhale, weakly smiling down at her as he approached the front desk.  
"Don't worry, princess. You're going to have fun!" He said as he tried to pull his hand away, but Allura refused to let it go. Her father just nodded, using his left hand to sign her in instead.  
"You're lucky I'm ambidextrous." Keith snorted quietly, writing down all the information the sign-in sheet asked for. Allura relaxed, paying more attention to the word she didn't understand.  
"Amb... Amber?" Keith tilted his head, kneeling.

"Hm? What- Oh! Ambidextrous. I can write with both hands. You excited to learn how to write?" Allura's eyes glimmered as she nodded, before she backed up a little. Keith was confused and was about to question it before he noticed the shadow above him and looked up, making eye contact with a man, whose face was covered in stickers, and his hair was sticking up in several different tiny ponytails. But, _fuck_ , was he cute. A mess, but adorable. An adorable mess. Keith stood up straight, Allura gripping his shirt this time.  
"O-Oh, uh, hello." His face was bright red as he stuttered. The man brightened immediately, the stickers shifting in place as they moved with his smile.

“Hello! The name’s Lance.” Lance outstretched his hand, despite it being covered in several different colours; the kids were playing with markers today and liked to use his hand as a canvas sometimes. Keith shook his hand hesitantly, a wave of anxiety crashing over him with the realization that he was actually going to have Allura out of his sight for more than one hour for the first time since she was born, with a _stranger_ nonetheless. Even with Nyma being perfectly capable of taking Allura on her own, Keith was always by her side.

“Hey, Lance… I’m Keith.” He said, almost mumbling. Allura wasn’t too thrilled either, hiding behind Keith’s leg. Lance took notice to how scared the both of them were, crouching down to Allura’s level as his expression softened, his voice sweet.

“Hey, cutie. You’re new here, aren’t you? I would’ve remembered someone as pretty as you! What’s your name?” He questioned with a fond smile, exhaling in relief when Allura perked up and started to move away from her hiding spot.

“Mhm, new. My name’s Allura.” She replied, moving closer to Lance. Keith had the urge to push Allura back slightly; he wasn’t very used to having anyone but Shiro and himself within two feet of her. But, he decided against it, he didn’t want to seem weirdly overprotective, though he figured he probably really was. Lance nodded quickly, grinning at the toddler.

“That’s such a pretty name! Don’t worry, you’re going to be okay here, you get to meet my friends and even make some friends of your own!” The tallest of the three spoke gently, not only to Allura, but to reassure Keith as well. Keith caught on to what he was doing and let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, sliding his hands into his jean pockets. Allura allowed a small smile to grace her features, holding her own hands behind her back.

“Are your friends nice?” She asked with a tilt of her head up at Lance as he stood, grabbing the sign-in sheet to read all the info Keith had written in. He smiled as he scanned the important details.

“They’re really nice! They wouldn’t be my friends if they weren’t nice, right?” Lance looked at Keith, even though the response was directed towards Allura, reading his expression; he seemed significantly more calm now, which was a good sign. He wasn’t only good with _kids_ who were nervous. Keith made eye contact with Lance briefly before quickly glancing down at Allura, the tips of his ears burning as he weakly ruffled her hair, or what he could of it. He’d spent 15 minutes that morning styling her hair into messy space buns, so the majority of it was tied back. He ended up just patting her head instead. Allura rocked on her heels, humming. She was a lot more excited.

“Okay! I wanna meet them.” Allura exclaimed, making Lance chuckle.

“Of course!” He said, placing the book back down into its place on the counter, taking in a deep breath.

“You have to say goodbye to…” He trailed off, realizing he hadn’t read the man’s relation to Allura. Keith finished the sentence for him.

“I’m her parent.” He said, kneeling to bring Allura into an embrace, his hands shaking against his will.

“I’ll see you later, alright princess? Be good.” He mumbled into her shoulder quietly, Allura wrapping her own arms around his neck.

“Okay, Daddy. Love you!” She pressed a messy kiss to Keith’s cheek, but he didn’t care too much about the spit, chuckling.

“I love you more.” He exhaled loudly, giving her a kiss back, except his was on her forehead. He stood back up, his hands immediately moving back into his pockets.

“Uhh, see you later, Lance.” Lance smiled with the goodbye, nodding.

“Bye, Keith! We’ll call you if there’s an emergency.” He stated and quickly regretted his choice of words upon seeing the flash of panic in Keith’s eyes.

“Not that there would be-” The brunette was cut off by the toddler quickly waving, giggling.

“Bye-bye!” Allura sang, and  Keith’s shoulders relaxed, moving back down from where they were. He well-aware that he was being silly for thinking of the worst-case scenario. It was a daycare, what could possibly go wrong? Allura didn’t have any allergies, so that wasn’t a problem, and Lance seemed kind enough. _So why was his chest so tight?_ He shook off any and all negative thoughts, heading towards the exit.

“Bye, love. Later, Lance.” He breathed out, turning on his heel and pushing the door to the exit open, closing his eyes once the sun hit his eyes. He had to fight what seemed like a gravitational pull tugging him back into the building.

 

 

 

 

Lance flushed watching Keith leave, tearing his eyes away from the sight. _I hate it when you leave but I love watching you go._ He instantly threw those thoughts away, taking Allura’s hand as he led her to the playroom for her age group, the excited shrieks of the young children getting louder as he got closer. He noticed the door close once they had started moving and his blush returned. Someone was watching that interaction. Knowing his co-workers, his bet was on Pidge. Upon opening the door he was met by a grinning freckled face and a pair of glasses, proving himself correct. He opened his mouth to speak, but Pidge beat him to it.

“You really live up to your sexuality. Just an hour ago you were drooling over some little boy’s older sister and now you’re staring at some guys as-” Lance quickly shushed them with a glare.

“I have a kid right next to me!” He cried, clearing his throat as he felt Allura’s grip tighten on his hand. He looked down at her, only to see her start to hide behind his leg like she had done with Keith. He pouted slightly, looking up at the kids running wild as Hunk tried his best to subdue or distract them. Lance spoke up loudly, over all the squealing.

“Everyone, freeze! We have a new friend joining us today. Her name is Allura! Let’s all be polite, alright?” The interruption gathered the majority of the children’s attention, some of them moving towards the both of them to meet Allura. Allura was both intrigued and scared, but she walked away from Lance to talk to those who seemingly wanted to talk to her. Lance watched as she was swept away by the kids; she looked happy enough though, so he wasn’t concerned. He turned to Pidge, who still looked incredibly smug. He sighed.

“Yes, I’m extremely bi. This information is not new!” He said, his arms flailing before they fell to his sides. Pidge cackled, leaning against the wall behind them.

“I just find it amusing, let me have my fun! You totally have the hots for that dude, though.” They snorted, watching Lance’s face turn as red as a tomato.

“I just met him!” Lance yelled, “But can you actually blame me? Did you _see_ him? He was gorgeous, Pidge! His eyelashes are better than mine, that isn’t fair!” Pidge started laughing all over again, wiping non-existent tears from their eyes. 

"Oh yeah, you're in deep and your conversation didn't even last ten minutes." They took off their glasses to clean them with the hem of their shirt, placing them back onto the bridge of their nose once they were clean. Lance crossed his arms over his chest with a huff, slumping back against the doors to the room, remembering too late that they were separate. He fell through them. Pidge legitimately cried.

 

 

 

 

   Meanwhile, Keith walked the route to Shiro's apartment anxiety ridden. Not only were they panicking over being so far away from Allura, but they were growing increasingly more and more uncomfortable in their outfit. They'd woke up this morning more focused on Allura than to pay attention to how to they felt, pulling on clothing that were too masculine to their liking as they wore them longer. They prayed Shiro wouldn't mind taking a trip back to their own place so they could change. It's not like they were too far apart in distance. Then again, it was Shiro. He probably wouldn't complain. Lost in thought, the trip sped up without Keith noticing, getting to the front of Shiro's apartment complex a lot quicker than they expected. They walked through the doors and to the stairs, climbing each step faster than necessary. They reached the third floor just barely out of breath, walking down the hall to their brother's door. They raised their hand and knocked in a tune, resting most of their weight on their left foot. The door swung open a moment later. Shiro smiled, his hand to his ear, and his phone in his grasp. He spoke to whoever he was talking to.

"Hey, sorry, I'm going to have to hang up. My little brothe-"

"Nnn." Keith cut him off with a whine, Shiro's eyebrows furrowing before he pieced it together. He tried again.

"My sibling just showed up. Talk to you later? Yeah, bye." He locked his phone before dropping it into the bottom of his back pocket, stepping aside to let Keith in.

"Sorry, Keith..." He mumbled. Keith shrugged and walked past Shiro, making themselves comfortable as they plopped into a chair in the living room. They crossed their legs, not aware that they were staring at their pants and tuning Shiro out until a hand was waved in front of their face.

"Hey, you with me...?" His voice was laced with concern, Keith shaking their head before putting both feet back on the ground, fixing their posture.

"Yes, yeah. I'm here." Keith mumbled, watching Shiro exhale and sit across from them in an identical chair. He looked over Keith, taking note of the outfit they were wearing before leaning back in his seat.

"Where'd you go just now?" Shiro questioned as Keith pulled at a loose thread from their hoodie, feeling the familiar discomfort in their chest return. They shook their head again, their hair bouncing when they did so.

"I was here, just thinking. Allura's at daycare today." Keith exhaled as they spoke, avoiding looking at Shiro for the time being. Shiro nodded as he listened, breathing in through his nose.

"And you're anxious about it?" He asked gently, not wanting to assume. Keith made a quiet affirmative noise, wrapping the thread they broke off around their index finger, stretching it to their middle finger next. Shiro hummed in response, bringing his foot up to rest against his knee. 

"She's fine there, Keith. Are  _you_ fine, though?" He raised an eyebrow as he spoke, only getting a small snort from Keith. He blinked, confused.

"Is that a yes or a no?" He asked and leaned forward, Keith still not looking up at him, more focused on fumbling with the thread in their hands. They squirmed uncomfortably in their seat.

"I guess." Keith mumbled, frowning when the thread broke. They unraveled it from their fingers, letting it fall to the floor. Shiro thought silently for a moment, before making a suggestion.

"Do you want to change? It's not a masculine day, I bet what you're wearing now is making you feel some type of... way." Before he could even finish, Keith sprung up from their seat and moved close to the door, figuring that was all the answer Shiro needed. Said man snorted, standing up with them. He grabbed his sweater, putting his arms through the sleeves and pulling it over his shoulders. He grabbed his house keys, opening the door for Keith. Keith practically zoomed past him, already making it to the staircase once Shiro had locked the door. He jogged and caught up with his younger sibling, chuckling.

"Alright, eager beaver, slow down." Keith looked at Shiro like he had two heads, walking down the stairs with a snort of their own. Their anxiety had notably subsided, and they smiled.

"What type of fucking expression is that, you loser."

"Hey!"

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fuc


End file.
